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Hallmark began selling mass produced Valentine’s Day cards in 1913. sales for cards, chocolates and other traditional gifts for this holiday top $17 billion.

The day may be a commercial windfall for the floral, card and confection industries, but instead of going shopping, use your kitchen pantry to craft unique Valentine’s Day gifts that show your friends and family just how much you care.

The array of special presents here uses herbs, spices and baking supplies. Your primary contribution is time. Everyone knows this is the most precious resource. Receiving any gift requiring time from a giver touches the heart.

Local food markets and craft and specialty stores have most ingredients on hand, along with beautiful packaging and decorative embellishments. And with Pinterest to help find ideas, the possibilities are infinite.

Accompany any of the projects below with a few heartfelt words, and you will give someone a Valentine’s Day to remember.

The projects here include something for everyone partners, teachers, neighbors, elementary school classes or family. Some don’t require turning on the stove or oven, and two aren’t even for eating!

Other ideas for unique savory gifts: Look for recipes for cheese spreads with wine/beer, garlic and spices. Make simple cheese straws by cutting store bought puff pastry into strips, twisting, brushing with egg yolk, sprinkling with cheese and baking. 14. The chalky little hearts are stamped with charming sayings that convey your adoration in less than eight characters.

The real deal doesn’t taste so great, but the sentiment is right. With these cookies you get all of the cute, with the addition of a lightly iced, snappy sugar cookie.

Just make the cookies in heart shapes and ice in classic pastel hues of yellow, pink, green, white and lavender. Red food coloring and a little water make an edible cookie paint. Use a fine brush to hand letter characteristic sayings on each cookie.

Cookies can be made weeks ahead of time and frozen unfrosted, but keep in mind that iced cookies need to dry overnight before painting. You need a steady hand to paint the words, but some may find this easier than piping icing.

Sprink michael kors outlet le surface, rolling pin and dough disk liberally with a 50 50 mix of flour and sugar. Roll out to desired thinness (1/8 to inch recommended for crisp cookies). Cut out and use a spatula to transfer to lined baking sheet. Place in freezer 5 to 10 minutes. (This helps cookies maintain their shape.)

Bake in preheated oven 8 to 10 minutes (time will depend on thickness of dough and size of cookies). Edges should just barely be golden brown. The made at home version is just as pretty and a touch softer.

They are essentially a very stiff buttercream icing that has been rolled into ropes, cut into little bits and allowed to dry overnight. The addition of potent mint oil guarantees the distinctive coolness.

If tinting dough, divide it into desired portions and, on a powdered sugar dusted surface, knead in 1 to 2 drops of food coloring.

Set aside 3 of the portions and lightly cover to keep from drying out. Dust surface with sugar again and also your hands to prevent sticking. Roll dough into a rope. With a sharp knife, cut th michael kors outlet e rope into pieces. Repeat with remaining dough portions.

Leave out overnight to dry. Keep covered in an airtight container between layers of parchment or wax paper for up to two weeks.

Rosolio di Mandarino

You may have tried the Italian after dinner drink limoncello. It’s surprisingly easy to make at home. Add a bit more water and sugar, and you have a sweeter, smoother beverage called rosolio di limon. Make it with tangerines and you have rosolio di mandarino.

All variations begin by infusing neutral alcohol with citrus peel for four to seven days, then lightening it with sugar syrup.

Either version can be made with equal parts citrus, such as blood oranges, Meyer lemons, or in this case, vivid orange tangelos. Use the recipe for less sugar and water and you have a classic limoncello or arancello.

This simple homemade Valentine’s Day gift bags are perfect for kids of all ages to make. They can use the Valentine’s Day gift bags to package their gifts or even use them to keep all of the Valentine’s Day cards and candy they receive toget michael kors outlet her while at school on Valentine’s Day. Most of the materials used in making this simple Valentine’s Day gift bag can be found around the house, so it is also virtually free! Make it a gre michael kors outlet at game with the kids to see who can repurpose the most leftover items into decorating their Valentine’s Day gift bag. Some of the best crafts and art projects I have ever made reused existing items around the house!

To Make This Simple Valentine’s Day Gift Bag Your Kids Will Need:

Valentine’s Day themed Wrapping paperThe first step is to take your brown paper grocery bag and turn the top four inches of the bag inside if itself. You are basically doubling up the top of the bag. If you have any left over cardboard you could cut two pieces and insert them up inside of this fold to add some extra strength. Be sure to glue them in so they don’t slip out.

Now, use your hole punch to punch out a hole on either side of the bag. This hole should be about 2 inches down from the top edge and centered.

Now, string your twine or Valentine’s Day ribbon though the first hole. You can tie a knot at the end of it to keep it from sliding through. Run the ribbon over to the second hole and slip it through. Tie a knot on the outside to keep i michael kors outlet t from sliding through.

Now the kids can decorate their homemade Valentine’s Day gift bags.

I like to use inexpensive wrapping paper to cover the body of the Valentine’s Day gift bag. The kids can use glue or tap to attach it to the plain brown grocery bag. Valentine’s Day Fabric is also a great choice. If you trust the kids with spray adhesive, then that is really the best way to adhere large pieces of paper or fabric to the Valentine’s Day gift bag.

Now, have the kids cut out smalle michael kors outlet r decorations to adorn their homemade Valentine’s Day gift bag. They can use heart shaped cookie cutters to trace out simple shapes to glue on. They could also draw their own creations and cut them out. Twigs collected from the yard make simple and three dimensional flower stems. Left over googly eyes are also great additions to fun cupids.

For a sweet handmade detail the kids cut sew beads onto the homemade Valentine’s Day gift bag. Wooden bead, some twine, and a tapestry needle would work well. Just make sure they do not poke so many holes in the gift bag that is becomes unstable.

Also, don’t forget about old Valentine’s Day cards. They are a great source for free Valentine’s Day images and great fonts and writing!

Some of that shredded tissue paper in red or pink would also look great inside of the Valentine’s Day gift bag!

This is such a simple and fun Valentine’s Day craft project and it really lets the kids get involved in helping everyone save some money!

The difference between the floppy mass produced kind at the supermarket and the soft, tender homemade kind is monumental.

Tortillas consist of just four basic ingredients: flour, salt, water and shortening (or more traditionally, lard). The only drawback to homemade tortillas is that they are at their very best when eaten warm or within an hour or two of ma michael kors outlet king them. You can freeze them, but they’re not quite as good when thawed and reheated.

Still, I don’t think eating them promptly is going to cause you any grief, and they’re so easy to make that whipping up a batch won’t be a problem either.

Tortillas are perfect for making wrap sandwiches, thin crust pizzas, fajitas and quesadillas.

They’re also delicious spread with soft butter and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.

You can also try making them into crackers: Brush olive oil over the surface of a tortilla, sprinkle with coarse salt (a few sesame or poppy seeds too if you like) and bake on a cookie sheet for five minutes at 450 F. Let them cool and break them into pieces to dip into hummus or other dips. Or serve warm tortillas with curries (the traditional Indian roti is the tortilla’s kissing cousin).

2 cups all purpose flour (You can substitute whole wheat or another grain flour for half a cup of this. Any more and the texture of the tortillas changes significantly)

2/3 cup warm water (you may need to use more, up to cup)

Combine the flour, salt and baking powder in a large bowl. With a pastry blender, cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse oatmeal (you can also use a food processor to make tortillas). Pour in the water all at once and mix with a wooden spoon, adding enough additional water as required to create a shaggy, slightly sticky ball of dough.

Bring the dough together with your hands and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead it gently until it forms a smooth, soft ball. Divide the ball into six equal pieces, forming each piece into a smooth ball. Cover the dough balls with plastic and let them rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and up to two hours.

Heat a dry griddle or heavy skillet over high heat for five minutes. Lightly dust your counter with flour and roll out one dough ball at a time as thinly as you can (aim for one sixteenth of an inch; keep rolling pin and work surface lightly floured). Don’t worry if the tortillas aren’t perfectly round, that’s how you can tell they’re homemade.

Cook tortillas one at a time until they bubble and puff and a few brown spots form on the bottom. Flip the tortilla over and cook the other side until it gets brown in spots (if the tortillas brown too quickly reduce heat). Don’t overcook or they’ll be hard.

The whole cooking process should only take about a minute per tortilla. R michael kors outlet emove from the pan with tongs and stack on a plate, covered with a clean dish towel, until all tortillas are cooked. If you’re not eating them warm, once they’ve cooled completely store them in a plastic food bag in the refrigerator or freeze them.

To reheat tortillas (either refrigerated or thawed frozen ones), wrap in heavy duty foil and place in a 350 F oven until warmed through, about 10 minutes. Makes six large tortillas.

Buffalo Chicken Tortilla Pizza

2 fresh tortillas, about eight inches in diameter

2 to 3 cups grated mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400 F. In a medium bowl, mix the melted butter and hot sauce together. Add the chicken and stir until chicken is evenly coated with sauce. Place the tortillas side by side on a large baking sheet.

Spread the ranch dress michael kors outlet michael kors outlet rong>ing over the tortillas. Sprinkle chicken evenly over top and drizzle barbecue sauce over chicken, then sprinkle cheese evenly over top. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the is evenly browned. Makes two to four servings.

3 fresh tortillas, about eight inches in diameter

3 cups mixed fresh berries (slice strawberries if you’re using them), sprinkled with a bit of sugar just before serving

2 Tbsp coarsely grated dark chocolate to garnish

Preheat oven to 400 F. Whip the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla together until quite stiff. Fold in the sour cream and refrigerate until

serving. Lightly brush both sides of each tortilla with melted butter. In a small bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle mixture evenly over one side of each tortilla. Cut each tortilla into eight wedges and arrange on two ungreased baking sheets. Bake for eight to 10 minutes or until crisp. Let cool completely (remove wedges to wire racks once they’re cool enough to handle).

To serve, divide wedges evenly onto six dessert plates. Top with berries and a dollop of the whipped cream mixture and sprinkle with grated chocolate. Makes six servings.